A Different sacrifice
by Human Xenocide
Summary: When Minato had the decision to sell his soul to the Shinigami, another person stepped forward in his place, sacrificing their life for Minato to stay with his new born son.
1. A Different Sacrifice

A Different Sacrifice

Chapter One- The Attack and The Choice

**Author's Note:** Well this is my first story, and my first attempt at putting up a story on Fan Fiction net, so I hope that this will be well received by my readers. Some basic facts about me, I am 14, and a tall skinny white boy. And my name is Nick too, by the way. I hope to be updating maybe three or four times a week, if not daily if that is possible for me. My average chapters should be around one or two thousand words each hopefully. And the reason that they will be this short is so that I can hopefully get a new chapter out at least every two days, if not every day. That will be to keep all of the readers reading something new all the time, instead of like most stories where it only gets updated every week or maybe two times a week, with 5 thousand word chapters, and readers get disinterested in the story while waiting for a new chapter. And I know how much it sucks to have to wait so long for a new chapter, because I have been reading fan fiction for about two years. The story is rated T, for mild language, and romantic themes in the story. "Constructive criticism will be used to build the foundation of a wonderful story, but flames will be used to feed the construction workers." –Myself. **END Author's Note**

Summary: On the day of the attack of the Kyuubi No Kitsune, when the Yondaime Hokage was forced to make a deal with the Shinigami (Death God), and sell his soul in exchange for sealing the Kyuubi No Kitsune in his son Naruto, a different sacrifice was made, when the Sandaime Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi sacrificed himself in Minato's place and died to seal the Kyuubi No Kitsune. This is the story of A Different Sacrifice.

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The wailing cry of a new born baby boy seemed to drown out all of the sounds of the battle going on outside of the village, not even three hundred yards away from the walls protecting the village. Minato stared down at his son, tears dripping down his face, dripping off his face down onto the blanket wrapped around his son.

'Oh my son how I am going to regret what I am about to do.' His thoughts aside, Minato walked up to an elderly man, and handed him his son. "Sarutobi-sama, will you please reconsider, it is my duty as the current Hokage to-"

Sarutobi cut off Minato with a wave of his hand. "You are young Minato, and with what you have told me about your Shiki Fuijin, I believe that I may perform the summoning and stop you from wasting your life when I, an old man, can do it in your place." His words said, Sarutobi walked out of the gigantic gates of the village wall.

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Minato smiled down at his son, lying in his crib, fast asleep. They were in a room, plainly decorated with a table off to the side on one wall, and a chest and a dresser off in another corner. Suddenly the door opened, revealing a young man around the age of fourteen, with spiky gray hair, sticking straight up. Minato turned to greet the new arrival.

"Hello Sensei. How is little baby Naruto doing?" The young man inquired.

"He is doing just great. Sarutobi was right, he could do the Shiki Fuijin, and the seal is working perfectly fine. I still just can't help but feeling that I should have been the one to give their life, not Sarutobi. But I also can't even imagine not seeing the sight I see now, my son sleeping soundly in his crib. Oh Kakashi the guilt weighs on me, even though I know that maybe things will be better this way."

"Sensei, Sarutobi-sama made the choice that he did, to keep you alive, and let you be with and raise your son, would you prefer that he grew up as an orphan with no family? We both know that since Kushina-san was killed when someone pulled the Kyuubi out of her, there was going to be no one else but you for the poor boy to look to for love, affection and a father."

"Oh but Kakashi, I wished for you to be that person for Naruto with me dead. Jiraiya was going to be his grandfather figure too. I knew that with both of you he would have grown up to be a fine boy."

"Yes Sensei, but now you can raise him to be a better man than both me and Jiraiya-sama could have hoped to make him. You will be there to train him when he wishes to become a great ninja like his father, and we will help guide him too."

"Thank you Kakashi, when Kushina died, and then I knew that the Kyuubi would have to be sealed inside of Naruto, I wished to die, if only to get away from the pain that I feel in my heart." Minato confided.

"I know Sensei, I know that you feel terrible, and wish to grieve for Kushina, but in less than an hour you need to be giving a speech to bring up the spirits of the people of Konoha, about the brave sacrifices of many, and how your son is holding the burden of holding the Kyuubi."

"Alright Kakashi, can you stay here with Naruto? He should be waking up soon, and I need you to feed him when he wakes, and keep him occupied while I prepare and give this speech."

"Okay Sensei, I will. And so that you know, you can always count on me to be there to help you in raising Naruto." Kakashi stated with sincerity and conviction.

"Thank you Kakashi." Minato wrapped Kakashi in a hug, as Minato began to cry, before they pulled apart, and Minato left the room.

Less than ten minutes after Minato left the room, Naruto began to stir, crying loudly as he woke, thoroughly startling Kakashi out of the book that he was reading. Rushing over to the table over in the corner of the room, Kakashi swiped his hand across a seal in the table, and a baby bottle with seemingly freshly warmed up milk inside popped onto the table in a poof of smoke. Kakashi grabbed the bottle, and walked back to Naruto, and picked him up and held him while he ate.

"Oh how this reminds me how much that I really hate babysitting. I am going to regret being there for Sensei wont I? Man this is going to be so much work." Kakashi ruefully thought to himself.

Minato stood, watching over his son as Naruto punched and kicked at a training post, trying so hard to master the Hummingbird Taijutsu Style, working himself to exhaustion. At the very young age of only five years of age, the young Naruto had been forced to start to train to become a ninja. But he took to training very well, and he seemed to love learning new things, with a determination to work at everything until he had it mastered.

But it wasn't only in his taijutsu, and his attempts to learn to throw kunai and shurukin, it was also in his studies of history, math, and he was already attempting to learn jutsu, going as far as sneaking into Minato's personal library to read and study, which he thought that he did unnoticeably.

Standing next to Minato, was Kakashi. In five years, he had grown to his full height, now easily 6' 1". He had also taken his training very seriously in the past five years, and had grown tremendously as a ninja, almost at a level where he would soon be an S Rank Shinobi, much to Minato's pride.

With all his training and dedication, it had been Minato's and Kakashi's proudest moments when Minato named Kakashi his successor as Hokage before the village, much to the Uchiha's disappointment, as they had tried to push for Itachi to be the next Hokage. The Hyuuga were likewise upset, as they had pushed in the council for a young Hyuuga prodigy of the name Heike to become Hokage.

The decision had been building tension as the Uchiha and Hyuuga's pride made all of them very arrogant, and led them to believe that it was Itachi's or Heike's right to be Hokage, coming from one of the founding clans of Konoha, not the son of a man who failed a mission and got his teammates killed in action.

As they both stood watching Naruto, Kakashi spoke, just loud enough for just the two of them to hear "I still don't believe that it is right that Naruto has to be training at a young age like this, and I fear he will turn into an Itachi, a human weapon for someone else to wield."

"Now you know Kakashi, that I don't like him having to train like this so early either, but there have been four separate attempts at his life! We have no choice but to train him so early. The last attempt scared us both; the assassin killed three people, and almost made it to Naruto's room. It was by pure luck that Naruto had made you sleep in his room because he had a nightmare, and that you had to use the bathroom as the assassin was in front of the door when you opened it to go."

"Yeah, and I know that you are right, and that training him so soon is the only option, but I just don't like it at all Sensei."

"I know Kakashi, believe me, I know. Now let's get Naruto inside, he looks like he is so tired that he will pass out soon." Minato raised his voice, and called out to Naruto, "Okay son, that's enough for today, let's go inside and dinner."

"Okay Dad, I will be inside in a minute, is that okay?" Naruto asked.

"Alright, but if you aren't inside and at the dinner table ready to eat in five minutes, then I will come back out here, and drag you inside by your ear, got it?" Kakashi answered teasingly.

Minato and Kakashi went inside their house, both of them living in the Namikaze clan compound, as Kakashi could barely stand to be inside of the house where his father had committed Seppuku **(Spelling?)**.

Minato and Kakashi quickly made fried vegetable rice, with barbequed teriyaki as the main meal. They both sat at the table, and when nearly ten minutes had gone by after Naruto was supposed to have some inside, they went back to the backyard behind the main building in the compound where training took place, and where they had left Naruto.

Upon reaching the training post where Naruto had been practicing, they saw Naruto laying on the ground, face down in the grass, a kunai sticking out of his back, imbedded deeply into his left shoulder blade. The wound was bleeding profoundly.

Both of them rushed over to Naruto, Minato lifting Naruto up off the ground, and quickly putting his fingers on Naruto's wrist veins, checking for a pulse. The tension and fear in the air was palpable as Kakashi stood and waited for Minato's word.

Minato looked up at Kakashi, tears glistening in his eyes.

"There's no pulse."

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Author's Note: So how was that? I am hoping for some positive reviews from readers, but as my first try at posting something on the site, who knows how this can go right? Well so far in the story, I already have three more chapters written and ready to be posted, and I will be posting them, plus the new chapters that I write hopefully daily for the next two weeks, and then things will start to get really hectic as I study and prepare for my Geometry Final and CBA test. But anyway, thank you to anyone who reads this and favorites, alerts and reviews.


	2. Recovery

A Different Sacrifice

Chapter Two- The Recovery

**Author's Note:** Well, the first chapter is over and done with, and onto chapter two. I know that my cliffhanger wasn't all that much of cliffhanger that made you think, "Did he really just kill off Naruto?" or "Is this a story without Naruto?" The point of my cliffhanger was to make you think "Is he going to meet Kyuubi and have it be a good/nice Kyuubi?" or "How is Naruto going to survive this?" Well, hopefully you thought one of those two things, as they were what I was aiming for, as I would never write a Naruto story without Naruto. **END Author's Note **

Summary: On the day of the attack of the Kyuubi No Kitsune, when the Yondaime Hokage was forced to make a deal with the Shinigami, and sell his soul in exchange for sealing the Kyuubi No Kitsune in his son Naruto, a different sacrifice was made. The Sandaime Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi sacrificed himself in Minato's place and died to seal the Kyuubi No Kitsune. This is the story of A Different Sacrifice.

Naruto watched as Minato and Kakashi walked back inside of the house. Looking back at the training post, he reached into a pocket in his all black vest, and pulled out five kunai. It still bewildered him how a simple seal that his dad had put into the pockets of his vest made them nearly ten times larger than the pocket would actually be.

Taking a few steps back from the target, Naruto took three deep breaths and on the exhale of the third, through each kunai in each hand as fast as he could, hoping for all five to hit the target. He had no such luck, as only two had managed to hit training post, with the others missing and imbedding themselves into the trees behind the post.

After seeing his failure, Naruto walked back over to the post, and gathered the kunai, before walking back to the same spot. This time, he prepared to throw them one at a time. He held one in his right hand, and the other four in his left, and threw the first at the post.

It hit dead center. He threw the other four right after the other, and they all landed in a perfect line down the post. Gathering the kunai up again, he prepared to throw all five at the same time again. Throwing them, this time three hit the post.

'Much better. Next time I will try to get four.' Naruto thought. 'But for now, food sounds good.' Naruto had barely begun to take one step towards the house after putting away the kunai, when pain erupted in his shoulder, and he fell forward in the grass.

"Ahhh!" Naruto gasped at the pain, but he could hardly breathe, as he closed his eyes and the world went black.

*****************Unknown Location*******************

"So how went the assassination Hanari? Is the damned child dead?" A man sat in a chair behind a desk, staring across the table at a very young girl, maybe at the age of seven years old. The girl had dark brunette hair, with bright blue eyes contrasting with her dark hair.

"I hit him with the kunai sir, right into his shoulder blade, and it most certainly hit his arteries. I have little doubt that the target is dead sir." The girl had a dead, flat and emotionless voice, deeply unsettling to anyone who would not be expecting it.

But the man barely blinked when he replied" Good, with his son dead, my only target now will be the Kakashi boy. But he will prove to be much more of a challenge to kill than the boy. Now go talk with our Uchiha contact, and give him this. I have a plan for Kakashi already." The man reached across the table and handed Hanari a letter. "This should inspire more of a fire in Fugaku, hopefully it will set our plan in action."  
The girl took the letter, tucking it into a pocket in her dark lavender jacket. "Yes Danzo-sama, as you wish." The girl left the room, and Danzo stared at the door as she left.

Naruto opened his eyes, looking at a white ceiling above him. He tried to turn his head to look around, but found that there was a brace on his neck, preventing his neck from moving. He wiggled his fingers and toes, and found that he was actually alive.

'Where am I? Why do I have a brace on my neck?' Naruto was starting to get frantic, before his memories came back to him, and he remembered the intense pain, and then blacking out as his last sight was the grass that he had fallen onto.

"H-Hello?" Naruto stuttered out. He could barely talk, his throat was so dry. "Hello!"

Naruto could hear a door open, and then a familiar face appeared in his field of vision. "Hey there little bro, how do you feel?"

"Kakashi, can you get me something to drink? I'm really thirsty and my throats dry." Naruto's voice was weak and feeble, as if Naruto hadn't spoken for weeks.

"Yeah, yeah, there is actually a glass of water right here on this table for you. But I guess that you can't even see it… I guess we should have thought of that when we left this for you. But here, let me just feed you the water."

Kakashi held the glass tilted to Naruto's mouth, and he drank the entire tall glass of water in only four huge gulps. "Ahhh, thanks Kakashi, I was really thirsty. Now, where am I? And what happened?"

Kakashi sighed, and seemed to think for a second. "Now Naruto, I am going to be one hundred percent truthful with you right now. You know how your dad is the Hokage, and how he killed hundreds of people in the Third great Shinobi War right? Well, he killed those people to protect this village. But, killing that many people made him many enemies, people that hate him for what he did to protect his village. And when enemies wish for revenge against someone who they can't kill, they may kill those close to them, namely you and me Naruto. Someone tried to kill you three days ago, and they would have succeeded and in a minute, your dad will explain how you are still alive okay? Now you should be able to walk, so let's get that brace off of you."

Naruto was in semi shock that someone had actually tried to kill him just to get back at his father. But he went with Kakashi, as they both left the hospital and Naruto followed absently behind Kakashi. The whole way back, Naruto was in deep thought. 'Why would they try to kill me for something I had nothing to do with? Maybe that is why I am training already, when all of the kids that I meet at the park say they haven't started to train yet.'

'Well, I guess that means that I really will have to try to master everything that I can, and become a great ninja like Dad and Kakashi, so that no one can hurt me for something that I didn't do. And I will show whoever tried to kill me that they will not be able to hurt me again, and I will become strong enough that Kakashi and Dad will not have to save me, and I can protect myself.'

When Naruto finally looked at his surroundings, he saw that he was standing in the Hokage's office, and his dad was walking towards him, and Naruto smiled, and ran to his dad, wrapping his dad in a hug.

"Oh Naruto I am so glad that you are okay. We were worried at first when we found you, but we saved you. We may have both passed out from chakra exhaustion later, but we saved you. I was so scared." Minato was in tears hugging his son, and Kakashi too stepped forward and hugged them both.

The three of them separated, Minato walking back behind his desk, and Naruto and Kakashi simply stood in front of the desk. "Now, with what happened, and how close Naruto came to dying, I believe that we really will have to step up his training, and as fast as possible I want you Naruto, to be able to protect yourself from anyone who would wish to harm you. And to do this, I have assigned your Godfather a mission, to take you with him in his travels throughout the Elemental Nations, and to train you to the fullest of your potential, and you will return in three years to enter the academy as a normal student, and to graduate as a genin."

Naruto stood speechless for a second, before asking his first question, "Who is my godfather?"

"Your godfather was my sensei, and one of the legendary Sannin **(Quick fact, Sannin literally means "The Three." Pretty lame right?) **Jiraiya, the Toad Sage of Konoha."

"Wow, that's sooooo cool, I can't wait to meet the man who trained you to be so awesome Dad! But I have another question; do I really have to go for three years to train? Couldn't I just go for, like a year?" Naruto asked.

"Yes you could only go for a year, or even just two, but I want you to be at your best, and in those three years, there is something else that Jiraiya will be training you to use, and that will take three years for you to even somewhat be able to control and use."

"Oh, what is it that I will be leaning to use Dad? It must be super awesome if I need to spend a whole three years to learn to even just learn to control." Naruto joyfully exclaimed.

"Naruto, as you know, when the Kyuubi attacked on your birthday, and the Sandaime Hokage sacrificed his life bravely in my place to defeat it, The Third sacrificed his life to seal the Kyuubi into your body, in a seal on your stomach."

Naruto blinked unbelievingly, and then the realization of what his dad had said set in. "I- I hold the Kyuubi in my body? How is that even possible?" Naruto asked skeptically.

"Well, first off, the Kyuubi is a sentient being, made entirely of chakra. When you seal that chakra away, the consciousness of the Kyuubi would be sealed with it. So, with the help of the Shiki Fuujin, the Sandaime sealed away the Kyuubi and his chakra into your body."

"But remember Naruto, now that all of that chakra is inside of your body, you can use it at will, once you train how to. And as another plus, the seal also absorbs the Kyuubi's chakra, and turns it into your own chakra, in a slow enough process that it won't overload your chakra system."

"Wow. This is a lot to take in, but why was I never told that I held the Kyuubi? Shouldn't I have had the right to know before now?" Naruto demanded. "And is that how I am still alive right now Dad? Did the Kyuubi save me?"

"Naruto, don't forget who you are. You may be very smart and very bright for a kid your age, but that does not mean that you are not still only five years old." Minato sternly reprimanded Naruto. "My plan was for you to not even know that you contained the Kyuubi, until you were a jounin ninja. There are enough people out to kill you for who I am, imagine the number of people who would wish to kill Konoha's Jinchuruki. There are reasons for what I do Naruto, I only wish for what will be best for you. And one of the reasons people may want you dead for having the Kyuubi is that it will grant you powers, and highly advanced healing is actually one of them."

"I- Well, I guess that that kind of makes sense. I'm sorry; I just can't believe that I contain the Kyuubi, and that I can use the power of the Kyuubi. So when do I get to meet Jiraiya-sama?"

"Well, Jiraiya should actually be here in just a few minutes actually, and here." At that, Minato reached across the Hokage's desk and handed Naruto three scrolls. "Now, the first scroll," Minato indicated a scroll with a white seal "Contains your clothing, and some other things. The scroll with the blue seal, contains ninja supplies, kunai, shurukin, explosive tags, and a ninjato, which you will begin to learn to use in your last year of training with Jiraiya."

Minato seemed to sigh for a second, before resuming. "Now Naruto, in the last and final scroll with a red seal contains hundreds of jutsu, from the low power, academy level jutsu, all the way to high A level elemental jutsu. You are not to go into the red scroll without Jiraiya's permission, and he will hold onto that scroll for the deration of the trip. Now, Kakashi will go walk you to the village's southern gate, and you will meet Jiraiya there on your first stop, out to a small village in fire country."

Kakashi cleared his throat before speaking, "Are you really sure that it is necessary to send Naruto away to train with Jiraiya-sama? I am sure that Jiraiya-sama would do a fine job of training Naruto to be a legendary ninja as you, he or I, but think about the places that Jiraiya-sama would take him? Do you want your 5 year old son to be raised in brothel houses?"

Minato seemed to frown for a second, "You know Kakashi? I did not even think about Sensei's own personal habits. Maybe someone else should be sent with them to make sure that my son never sets foot inside of a place like that."

"Exactly Sensei, I would not trust Naruto alone with Jiraiya for one minute, let alone three whole years."

"Well, then I guess you can go too Kakashi. From now until further notice, you are being placed on a three year long protect and training mission. Happy?"

"Yes sensei, I would hate for Naruto to be raised by Jiraiya, to become like Jiraiya." Kakashi placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder and smiled down at him brightly. "Alright Naruto, lets go meet Jiraiya-sama down by the gate."

"But Kakashi, wont we have to go stop by the house to get all of your stuff?" Naruto asked.

"Nope, I knew that I could get Sensei to let me go with you, so I already have all of my stuff packed into a couple scrolls in my pockets." At that, Kakashi looked back up and smiled at Minato.

"Am I really that easy to talk into things?" Minato asked while his cheeks got red.

"Haha, you sure are Dad." Naruto said while laughing. "And look Kakashi, you made Dad blush!"

"Hahahaha. Alright Naruto, let's go." Kakashi ordered. "Jiraiya-sama is probably waiting down at the village gate by now."

Naruto and Kakashi walked out of the office, and began to walk down the tower, on their way out of the village for the next three years.

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Author's Note: And I know that some readers out there will think that I am rushing the story, having Naruto leave the village at such a young age, and that I will make him some incredibly super powered jinchuruki that will be stronger than anyone at the age of eight when he gets back. But be assured, I will never do that, and he will not be that strong, at all when he gets back from his training trip.


	3. An Attempt To Stop Civil War

A Different Sacrifice

Chapter 3: The Fight begins

**Author's Not**e: Now to start with, I know that some of you may be wondering "what the Hell? Naruto leaving the village at 5?" well, I wanted to have Naruto get decently strong at a young age, and you will see some changes in his character, and the characters of Jiraiya and Kakashi when they arrive back at the village. The different Naruto will affect everyone around him, changing their behavior, and there will be many different twists to the storyline, with Minato being alive. Minato will affect many things that happened before the cannon storyline began, and with the situations after. The ENTIRE universe in this story will hopefully be VERY different. You will see very few events that happened in the cannon happen in this story. It will be very AU. **End** **Author's Note**.

Minato sat in his Hokage chair, staring out at the village below, the setting sun throwing breathtaking purple, orange and yellow hues throughout the sky, a sunset of rare and outstanding beauty. And yet, even with the beautiful sight before him, all that he could think of was the growing tension between the Uchiha and Hyuuga, and the rest of the village.

It was as if very soon, civil war would begin and ravage the village. Minato knew that when that would happen, he would be where the civil war would start, either when an Uchiha was sent to assassinate him, or when he gave the orders to destroy the Uchiha before war could start.

There was a quiet knock at the door, and Minato answered, "Come in."

A man dressed in all black, and a black mask covering his face walked into the office, before stopping and standing at attention in front of the desk. Minato turned his chair away from the window to face the man.

"Now Kakashi, I know that it was hard for you to get here away from Jiraiya and Naruto, but I need your help immediately, and I am glad to see that you understand already what this is about."

"Yes Sensei, I have kept tabs on the village with Jiraiya's help, so even after two years of being gone, I know of the growing hostilities between the Uchiha, and their supporters, the Hyuuga. I also know that we need to snip this whole incident in the bud before it gets out of hand. So it was not hard for me to guess why you needed me back in the village so urgently."

"Precisely Kakashi, I need you to lead a strike force of ANBU and elite Jounin to surround the Uchiha compound, and begin to execute all of the Uchiha with the exception of our informant Obito Uchiha who informed us of the Uchiha's unanimous decision to begin a war with the village with help from the Hyuuga Clan, and the children. The Hyuuga also believe that they too deserve to have had Hiashi Hyuuga become Hokage. They have plans to set up two separate attacks on the village from their compounds, and assume control with Itachi Uchiha and Hiashi Hyuuga as two faction leaders, and they will each have equal control over the village. I cannot let this happen, as they will begin the war by tracking down Naruto, and having he and I assassinated."

"So if I am leading an attack against the Uchiha, who will lead an attack against the Hyuuga? If they are also planning to commit treason, they will have to be dealt with too." Kakashi inquired.

"Well the Hyuuga situation is a lot more complicated, as only parts of the Hyuuga even know of this plan. The main branch part of the Hyuuga has agreed to help the Uchiha, while the servant branch is unaware the situation. Our informant Hizashi, Hiashi's own brother has informed us of this, and we have a team who will need to get all of the servant branch members out of the Hyuuga compound, otherwise the Main Branch will kill them with the use of the Caged Bird Seal on their foreheads. Then they will have to begin to execute the main branch members. So I will personally lead the attack group, and I have Gai Maito and myself leading the extraction team, and then the attack team lead by ANBU Captain Tenshi will also aid me in executing the guilty Hyuuga."

"Alright Sensei, when is this attack?" Kakashi asked.

"The actual attack is in two hours from now, but right now Gai is leading the branch Family out of the compound, and have done so unnoticed so far, as the Hyuuga guards have been placed under a genjutsu so that they can only see empty streets outside the compound, and no activity in the compound. Hopefully we will have the element of surprise in this attack, because I fear that if they know of our plans, the Uchiha and Hyuuga will flee the village, or begin their attack knowing that they have been discovered." Minato turned his chair back around to face the window, now seeing the last few rays of sunlight disappear in the horizon. "Your team is currently awaiting your arrival at the ANBU base of operations. Dismissed."

From a vent inside of the Hokage's office, a young boy with spiky black hair had been watching and listening to the entire conversation. Carefully, being sure to make no noise, he slid his way backwards through the vent shaft, before falling down through a hole, and landing softly onto his feet into a room, where he quietly ran through the building, and dove out of an open window, rolling as he landed.

The boy looked back, before running through the village, his destination clear to the ANBU patrolmen who only saw that the boy was running through the streets way after a time where he should have been home, and his parents would never have let him out so late.

Jumping down next to the boy, he spoke to the boy, "You know Sasuke, you shouldn't be running through the village this late. Here, let me escort you back home."

"Okay ANBU-san, thank you. I was just running around, and I was supposed to be home before dark. I hope that my mother will not be too upset with me." Sasuke answered.

"Oh it's alright, now let's go, wouldn't want to make her wait now would we?" The ANBU answered. 'I need to grab this kid, it would be a terrible tragedy if he got back to his compound, after running out of the Hokage's tower like that, he must have been spying on Hokage-sama when he was meeting with Kakashi, and he must know that we are attacking tonight. He will have to be brought back with me on my to the ANBU headquarters I guess, and it will save us the trouble of grabbing this kid from the Uchiha compound during the battle.'

The two ran towards the Uchiha compound, before the ANBU grabbed Sasuke, his hand covering his mouth, as he picked him up and speedily raced towards the ANBU building.

Unknown to the ANBU, he too was being watched by a figure standing on a roof top nearby. The figure on the roof, threw a kunai that implanted itself in the back of the ANBU's head as he had begun to jump onto a roof with Sasuke. Sasuke was thrown up onto the roof, as the ANBU landed dead next to him, his face landing right in front of Sasuke's.

"Ah-" Sasuke's cry was cut off as the figure landed and placed his hand over his mouth, before he too grabbed him, but the figure instead raced him towards the Uchiha compound.

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Fugaku Uchiha was lying in his bed with his wife Miko **(I do not actually know Fugaku's wife's name, so if you do, could you please PM me and tell me? Thx.)**, when suddenly he was awoken as his door was thrown open as his sons Itachi and Sasuke walked into his bedroom.

"Boys! What is the meaning of this? Why are you in my room when me and your mother are sleeping?" Fugaku angrily demanded.

Sasuke stepped forward, preparing to speak "Father, I was spying on the Hokage's office like Itachi told me to, because he said that the Hokage was meeting with Kakashi Hatake tonight. I discovered that the Hokage knows of our plans, and that he has strike teams ready to execute every one of the Uchiha, and the Hyuuga main branch family. With the exception of Obito Uchiha, who informed him of our plans. Obito is already in Konoha's protective custody somewhere, but we need to prepare for the fight about to come."

Fugaku sighed deeply, before speaking "Alright Itachi, mobilize everyone in the Uchiha, and Sasuke, go inform Hiashi that we need to begin our attack now, or flee the village. Make him answer you with which he wishes to do, and I we will plan accordingly. Now go both of you."

Sasuke and Itachi both raced from the room, obeying the orders that they were given, preparing for the imminent battle about to come, whether it was to assume control of Konoha, or to leave it.

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Sasuke ran as fast as he could, while being sure to remain silent the entire time as well. He arrived at the Hyuuga compound in less than ten minutes, and immediately ran right by the Hyuuga guards at the walls, running until he reached the chambers of Hiashi and Hana Hyuuga, where he stopped, knocked and loudly announced "Hyuuga-sama, there is urgent news, I need to speak with you immediately."

Incredibly mad at being awakened in the middle of the night, and yet somewhat worried what the news was, Hiashi opened his chamber doors and admitted Sasuke inside before reclosing them.

"Now what in the name of God could you possibly have to say Sasuke Uchiha?" Hiashi demanded.

"Hyuuga-sama, the Hokage is aware of our plans for our Coup De' Tat and he has strike teams ready to execute those guilty in the Uchiha and Hyuuga guilty for treason. Hizashi Hyuuga reported your plans, and the Hokage has already begun to extract the branch family from the compound, and as soon as all of them are out of the building they will attack and kill all in the Main Family."

Sasuke paused and regained his breath, already windless from all of the running, and the hours of waiting in the vent system in the Hokage tower for Kakashi to arrive. "My father waits to know if you want to begin the attack on Konoha, or flee the village."

Hiashi seemed to be deep in thought for a second before he said "Tell your father to begin evacuation, we cannot win in a fight against the village while Minato is still alive. Tell him to meet us three miles north of the village, where we will make a further course of action from there."

"Yes Hiashi-sama." Sasuke left the compound, once again running himself as fast as he could back to the Uchiha compound. But halfway back to the compound, another ANBU jumped down behind him quietly, slapping a seal onto his chest, then he mysteriously disappeared in a flash of light, and the ANBU kept moving on.

##########15 minutes earlier##########

Kakashi ran quietly through the roof tops of Konoha, but as he was running, he saw a body lying on the top of a roof. Jumping over to it, he identified Kinaki, a young ANBU, only twenty two years old, dead with a kunai sticking out of the back of his head.

"Wholly SHIT!" Kakashi had personally known Kinaki as a close friend, being close to the same age in the ANBU, they had been close. 'The only reason any ninja would have killed him in the middle of the village would be if he had seen a spy and had been killed for it. I have to tell the attack teams to move now, or we let the rebels make the first move.'

Kakashi immediately made a decision, and quickly dashed through the roofs once more, but this time carrying the body of a friend.

Upon arriving at the ANBU headquarters, Kakashi found more than ninety ANBU members, and Minato already waiting for him inside. And when they all saw Kakashi run into the building with a dead body over his shoulder, they all were alarmed, and they all asked Kakashi questions at once, the room quickly getting out of control.

"Everyone, quiet down at once!" Minato's voice rose above everyone else's voice, making everyone immediately quiet down. "Kakashi, what happened? And how did Kinaki die?" Minato calmly asked.

"Sensei, I was on my way here when I ran across Kinaki's body with a kunai in the back of his head, he must have seen a Hyuuga or Uchiha spy, and another person must have killed him. But that doesn't matter now, because we need to begin our attack at once, before the Uchiha and Hyuuga can make their move." Kakashi hurriedly explained.

"Alright everyone, you heard Kakashi just as well as I did. Begin to mobilize, and begin the attack as soon as possible. I have already received word that Gai's team has already gotten all of the Servant branch of the Hyuuga out of the compound, so there is no concern other than taking out the Hyuuga and Uchiha. Now go."

Minato's orders were clear, and everyone soon left the building, going as fast as they could on their way.

It was on his way to the Hyuuga compound that Minato, dressed in black ANBU gear and a black mask covering the bottom half of his face, that he ran into a certain Uchiha on his way back to the Uchiha compound to tell his father of Hiashi's plan.

Minato quickly grabbed Sasuke, and slapped a Hiraishin Seal onto his chest, teleporting him through space, into an ANBU holding cell with a corresponding Hiraishin seal of its own.

Minato arrived at the Hyuuga compound with the ANBU and the extraction team, and with a nod, nearly four dozen kunai with explosive tags were thrown at the buildings of the Hyuuga compound, and all at once, they exploded.

Only seconds after the first set of explosions, another loud set of explosions were heard from across the village, as the same was done to the Uchiha compound.

The execution of all guilty Uchiha and Hyuuga had begun.


	4. Civil War Averted

A Different Sacrifice

Chapter 4: Civil War and its Aftermath

Author's Note: Now I know, "Really? What do you think that you are doing getting rid of the Uchiha AND the Hyuuga? And ALL of the Hyuuga and Uchiha main family?" Well, I hope some of my readers had faith that I know what I am doing, and that I have everything planned ahead, and that there is no way I would just get rid of them, just like that. But anyway, on to chapter four, Civil war and its Aftermath. End Author's Note

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**BOOM!** A loud explosion rocked the building, throwing Hinata Hyuuga sideways off of her bed, two feet onto the hardwood floor. "Ugh!" Hinata half gasped, half grunted in pain. The pain of being thrown out of bed, and loud yells and explosions banished Hinata's grogginess, instantly being replaced by fear as she heard cries of death just outside her door.

Hinata hid behind one side of her bed, away from the door as she heard the door get thrown open, the door slamming against the wall, undoubtedly leaving a large hole in the wall. Peering over the top of her bed slowly, she began to see a figure emerge through the door way.

The figure was a man, clothed in all black with a black mask covering the lower half of his face, also concealing his hair as well. Hinata was shocked when she did recognize the man from what features that she did recognize. "Ho-Hokage-sama? What's going on? What are those explosions?" Hinata was now even more confused than before.

"Come here Hinata, we need to go get your sister Hanabi, and get you away from this fighting okay? Where does your sister sleep?" Minato questioned.

"Hanabi sleeps just down the hall, all the way at the end." Hinata answered. "But where are Mom and Dad? Who is fighting?"

"Don't worry Sweetie, everything is okay, I can and will explain everything later, but right now we need to get you and your sister to safety okay?"

"Okay Hokage-sama."

Minato and Hinata quickly moved out into the hallway, and Hinata could see that the entire house of the Main Family of the Hyuuga had been completely blown open, the entire front wall of the house gone.

She turned away from the hole, and quickly led Minato down the hall, where she opened her sister's bedroom door calling, "Hanabi? Hanabi are you there?"

An answer was heard, as a little girl barely three years old crawled out from underneath a bed. "Sissie, what's going on? I'm scared." Hanabi whimpered.

"It's okay Hanabi; we are going to follow Hokage-sama to safety alright?"

"Okay Sissie." Hanabi answered tentatively.

Hinata held Hanabi's hand as they walked back down the hallway, and out of the new hole in their house. The cold air finally got to Hinata and she shivered as the cold easily went through her thin lavender colored silk nightgown. She looked down at Hanabi, seeing her shivering as well, in her identical nightgown.

Looking down the street that was in front of her home, Hinata saw dead bodies of Hyuuga lying in the streets, and her heart stopped. Lying in front of her, was her uncle Hizashi, lying dead with his face up, his parted as she could see the Caged Bird Seal on his forehead burning red, activated so long that it had killed him. The other dead were many main branch family members, people she vaguely recognized.

Hinata could hear more fighting going on, on the other side of the house, but before she could move Minato slapped a seal onto both Hinata and Hanabi, and they both disappeared in a flash of yellow.

Minato stood there for a second before he cursed. "Shit!" Then he thought 'I really should have sent them away inside of the house, they never should have had to see their dead uncle.' "Fuck!" He cursed again. He leaped off, to resume in the fighting.

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Fugaku Uchiha sat with his wife angrily, waiting for his son to return. After waiting for fifteen minutes for the return of his son, he knew that something had to have happened to him. Standing up, Fugaku strode out of his chambers, out into the streets, where the entirety of the Uchiha clan stood out waiting for him.

"It appears that my son Sasuke either did not make it to the Hyuuga compound, or that he did not make it back to us. Now because of this, we need to leave the village now; we can only hope that Hiashi has made that decision as well. We will leave through the tunnel that the first Uchiha's built that leads to an old Uchiha hideout. We leave now." He declared.

Watching as everyone left down into the building hiding the tunnel entrance, Fugaku realized that it would take at least twenty minutes to evacuate everyone through the tunnels. "I need five volunteers to stay behind and guard this entrance, and ensure that everyone else gets away to safety. Who wishes to stay?"

Five Uchiha Jounin level ninja stepped forward, all five having been in the village police. "Okay good," Fugaku said. "I know that you will not be able to get out of the village if you stay, so I need your word that you will NOT tell any soul in Konoha, regardless of who they are, where we are going. NOT A SOUL. Understood?"

Five voices answered together and at once, "Yes Fugaku-sama, we swear."

"Thank you, your sacrifice will ensure the survival of the rest of the Uchiha, good luck." Fugaku himself then ducked through the doorway into the building, leaving behind the five men to either death or imprisonment for the rest of their lives.

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Sasuke slowly raised his head, waking up on a bed that was terribly stiff. He moved a blanket off of himself, and looked around. Three walls of the room were metal, while the other was another wall of metal, while it also had a metal door with no handle of any kind on the inside. There was nothing else inside the room except for the simple metal frame bed, the mattress and the blanket.

As soon as Sasuke sat up, the door opened, and the Hokage of Konoha walked through the door.

"Hokage-sama, what am I doing here? And where is here?" Sasuke was trying to remember what had happened, but the last thing that he could remember was Itachi telling him that he had a mission for him. Now what was that mission?

"Sasuke, what do you remember of last night?" Minato closed the door behind him, meaning that they were both trapped in the room.

"I-I don't know Hokage-sama. The last I can remember is Big Brother telling me he had a mission and then-" Suddenly, the memories of the night before came flooding back to Sasuke, spying on the Hokage, reporting back to father about the Hokage's plan to kill the Uchiha and the Hyuuga for treason, and then running to the Hyuuga compound, then nothing.

"Now I remember Hokage-sama, but what happened? Where are Father and Big Brother? Since you are here with me, are they dead? Did you kill them?" Sasuke was beginning to panic, his breathing beginning to hyperventilate as his mind was being flooded with questions, and panic began to set in.

"Sasuke, I need you to calm down. Your Father and Itachi are still alive, but they are wanted for planning to assassinate me, and to take over the village. They escaped from the compound somehow, when ANBU forces had the place surrounded. We do not know where they went or how they left, but they did leave." Minato explained.

'So Father and Big Brother are alive, I'm so glad.' "So what will happen to me Hokage-sama? Will I be killed for spying for Big Brother?" Sasuke asked.

"Now I know that what you did is an open act of treason to the village, but I also know that you were also just following orders from your family. But I am here to tell you that you were following the orders of two people who wished to KILL me. Just because I did not make your brother Itachi my successor as Hokage, they wanted me dead."

"Is that really why you ordered us to be killed? I thought that you wanted to kill us, so Big Brother sent me to find out when you would do it, so that we could get away." Sasuke murmured.

"I know that it may be hard for you to believe Sasuke, them being your family, but they were planning to kill me, my son Naruto, who is the same age as you, and start a civil war in the village just to put an Uchiha in the Hokage robes and hat."

"I could not let them do that, so in an attempt to stop the impending civil war, I made the decision to kill the Uchiha and Hyuuga before they could start their war. But you stopped any chance of that, but I understand that you were simply doing what you thought was right, by following your brother's orders. Now I am giving you a chance to put that aside, and join your relative Obito Uchiha, as the last two Uchiha in Konoha. Can you do that? Side with Konoha over your family?"

Sasuke sat on the edge of the bed, deep in thought. 'I can't believe that that is what was actually what Father and Itachi were doing. But they are my family right? You have to stick with family above all right? Or should I follow the village leader who was protecting his son from facing death by deciding to kill my family?"

Finally Sasuke was ready to answer Minato, after Minato stood there waiting for an answer for three minutes as Sasuke thought about the gravity of what his decision would be, and what his decision meant for himself, and the future of the Uchiha clan. "I will, follow you Hokage-sama. I believe that what my family did was selfish, and only went to further the position of the clan at any cost, while you were simply defending yourself, your son, and the village all together."

"I am truly glad to hear you say that Sasuke, because I really believe that you will be a great man, a great ninja, and a great father someday. Maybe you and Naruto can even become friends someday from now. And I also hope that with Obito's help, you two can someday restore the Uchiha clan in Konoha with a positive reputation, instead of the less then positive reputation of before."

Sasuke and Minato shook hands, and the cell door opened, and the two of them stepped out of the holding cell.

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Hinata was sitting with her sister Hanabi, holding her while they both cried as they mourned for their family members that they knew had to have died only hours before. They were in a room with no furnishing but the couch that they sat on. And the only way in or out was a door.

"Whe- when do you think that Hokage-sama will be here to explain what happened Sissie? I'm still really scared." Hanabi's crying and stuttering voice pulled on Hinata's heart as she watched her little sister cry.

"I don't know yet Hanabi, I can only hope that he will be here soon, because I am scared too." Hinata's confession of being scared too seemed to have made Hanabi feel a little better, as her crying lessened, and she began to wipe the tears out of her eyes.

As if hearing what they had been saying, the door opened when both of the girls had ceased crying, and Minato walked into the room with two tissues, handing one to each of the Hyuuga princesses.

"Now I know that you both are sure to have a lot of questions right now, but I will start by saying this, and I am not going to be gentle with what I am about to say. Okay?" Both of the girls nodded, ready to hear what had happened, while they wiped their eyes and regained their composure.

"Your father and most of the main branch family of you clan was involved in a conspiracy to kill me and my son Naruto, and overthrow the village. Your uncle Hizashi reported this to me, so when we were forced to execute your family for treason, your father himself personally killed your uncle. The branch family of the Hyuuga, including all of the children of the main branch, were taken away from the fighting, and are safely back at the compound."

Minato took a deep breath before continuing, "Your father and mother, including at least a dozen of your main house members fled and escaped the village, most likely meeting with the Uchiha who were likewise executed for treason, but most escaped. Both clan's members involved in the conspiracy are wanted for treason, but they are still alive somewhere, on the run."

The shock, disbelief and horror on both of the girls' faces stabbed right into Minato's heart, as he felt terribly bad for both of the girls.

"Are- are you sure that they would do that? I mean they wouldn't- but why- I- I-." Hinata's words degraded into a meaningless babble as her and her sister once again resumed crying, this time grateful for the tissue that Minato had given to them.

"Now since your parents are gone, and all relatives except for your cousin Neji are left in the village, you are both being placed into the care of your Aunt Hine, you cousin Neji's mother. Is that okay girls?" **(Pronounced Hi, like you would say he, then Ne like a horse.)**

"Ye- yes Hokage-sama, it is. Tha- thank you." Hinata could still barely speak, her voice stuttering as she and her sister continued to cry.

Minato walked over to the girls, and picked them up, one in each arm and carried them out of the room, taking them back to their clan compound, to go live with their aunt and cousin.

The scars left by their parents crimes going to permanently change their lives, as well as another child, also affected by his parents' crimes as well, and he was currently curled next to his second cousin, crying into his arms.

Author's Note: And again you see my GIGANTIC changes in the storyline of the story, with parts of the Uchiha and Hyuuga clan living outside of the village as fugitives and traitors, and parts living in the village to live knowing they have living family and friends ready to kill their Hokage, and their Hokage just as ready to kill them.


End file.
